Cheap, easy?

Me and my flatmate are both students, a so are skint and have a lot of free time!!
We are looking to broading our horizons!!!!!

Can we make beer, cheaply? I really cant afford hundreds of pounds.

Besides what would be the point of making it if it were cheaper in the shops (I make the exception with Tenants)

In general it is safe to say that 'saving money' is often an excuse for making your own beer but in the end, when you start adding up all the gear, you only 'save money' in the really long haul--- if you can refrain from continuing to buy more gear.

So wats the advice for starting out?

I dont wanna go too overkill as I'll most likely be rubbish at it

Rob85 said:

Besides what would be the point of making it if it were cheaper in the shops (I make the exception with Tenants)

Click to expand...

Some people enjoy the process of creating things, and want to make beer suited to their own tastes. I'll bet that very few of us are doing it just to get drunk.

If that's your reasoning, there's nothing wrong with it, but I suspect that you will find that the time invested in crafting your own beer will eventually turn you off to the whole thing.

-walker

Rob85 said:

So wats the advice for starting out?

I dont wanna go too overkill as I'll most likely be rubbish at it

Click to expand...

some people do John Bull no boil extract kits. i've never done one, but i think all you do is add water, hops, and yeast. let if ferment for 4-7 days in a primary fermentor (glass 6.5 gallon carboy or plastic food grade bucket), rack to a secondary fermenter to allow it too clear a bit for about 7 days, then bottle and let carbonate for 2 weeks. then chill and enjoy! try http://www.diamalt.co.uk/john.htm. this is making beer in it's simplist form (i would imagine?). just make sure what you get is "no boil". if you do get a kit that rewuires boiling, you'll need a 6 gallon stainless steel or enameled pot.

Read Palmer intro I guess the minimum equipment is a 6 liter/quart pot, a 25L/6gal food grade bucket, about 2m/6ft of plastic hose and an airlock. There are kits as mentioned. You can leave the ale in the primary fermenter and at two weeks use the hose to fill glasses! If you drink it fast enough, you don't need to worry about bottling.

Seriously, the Palmer URL will get you started.

ive never done a no boil kit, but thats gotta be the easiest...just not as much fun. getting a couple food grade buckets (or just one if you want to be really cheap), an airlock, siphoning equipment, and a capper isnt very expensive.you will need a large pot, but you can pick up an aluminum one for cheap, although stainless steel is preferable. do an easy extract brew, which is very cheap, and easy, and i guarantee you it wont be 'rubbish'. i bought a basic kit for 50 bucks and a recipe kit for an amber for 20 for my first brew. thats 70 bucks for 2 cases of beer that turned out great. do this one or two times and youre equipment kit is paid off, and then yes, it is much cheaper, and the beer will be pretty damn good too, and most of all, its fun and interesting.

Just remember that what you brew will be ales and not anything close to the Tennants Lager you mention.